How is love presented in ‘Romeo and

Juliet’ and this collection of poems?

The theme of love is in many poems and plays. It is

particularly prevalent in the poems ‘sonnet 43’ and
‘valentine’ as well as the play ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by William
Shakespeare. All of the pieces portray love in separate ways
in detail.
In William Shakespeare's ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Romeo
has many different feelings and moods through-out the
play, usually influenced by love. During (3:1) after
Mercutios death Romeo again makes a reference to his love
for Juliet but he uses it in a negative context. Romeo says ‘ o
sweet Juliet, thy breath has made me effeminate’. This line
shows you that love is a very influential force, being able to
change a person’s outlook and personality.
In ‘Romeo and Juliet’ love is also portrayed as
something that can also make you feel invincible and
metaphorically give you powers. The line ‘with loves light
wings’ shows this. The line could show the courage that
love gives you and it also suggests that love is an impossible
force to restrain and keep out of your mind. It could also
show that love always finds a way to ‘complete itself’
The play also shows that love could be a force that can
affect your mind. Shakespeare writes ‘is the day so young’.
This line shows clearly that love has slowed down Romeo’s
mind making him lose track of time. This could be argued
however as what Romeo feels for Rosaline could be classed
as lust and not love.
The poem ‘Valentine’ shows love as being something
that has many negative elements to it, one of which is that
it can be harmful to people. Duffy writes ‘lethal’. This simple
word conveys all of the main negative things about love to
the reader, lovesickness, harm, sadness etc... this can be
seen in ‘Romeo and Juliet’ Shakespeare writes about how
Romeo is under loves ‘lethal’ influence over Rosaline and
these emotions become amplified over Juliet.
‘Valentine’ also talks about what love can do to a
persons senses and their awareness. Duffy writes ‘it will
blind you with tears’. This has the obvious reference to love
causing people to become upset and heartbroken and then
making them cry in the process. It also has the metaphorical
sense, meaning that love can make you blind to all else.
The poem ‘Sonnet 43’ shows more of the positive
aspects of love. In line 14 it says ‘ I shall but love thee better
after death’. This could mean that the persons love is an
enduring thing and even though death may separate them
physically, it will never truly destroy someone’s feelings for
another. It could also mean that through literature, love can
live on and that through various forms, love can endure.
 In ‘Sonnet 43’ it portrays love as force that can be
pure. In line 8 it says ‘I love thee purely’. This particular line
could mean multiple things. For instance, the main
meaning, is that the love this person has for the other is
pure and great. It could also have a religious reference in
that her love is that of heavenly measurements and it is
true love and not a sinful lust.
In conclusion the poems all have similar as well as
varying ideas on how love plays out. ‘Romeo and Juliet’
portrays love as a difficult force to control that will affect
your mind and personal control. This is similar to the poem
‘Valentine’ because both texts show that love is
unpredictable and uncontrollable. ‘Sonnet 43’ portrays love
as a strong and unbreakable force, similar to both of the
other texts. The differences are all very notable, being that
they all display love in different ways but the things that
they all do agree on is that love has both negative and
positive aspects and that it is an uncontrollable entity.

By Domonic Holder